Ahhh… So many holiday treats, so little calories to budget.
What’s a joyous holiday person to do?
For You:
Don’t give up on your dreams of sugar plums dancing, we say. So too do food experts like Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. He’s also the director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab where they study our food behaviors at length.
In Wansink’s discoveries, the bottom line is that a food craving or a comfort food is what it is and once it’s in your head, it’s probably there to stay — oh and we’re most likely to choose such foods when we’re celebrating (rather than sad). The trick is to budget for the foods you love this time of year. That is not to say that you should all of a sudden start eating a food you’ve successfully given up. If you’re already really good at staving off bacon, keep at it! But if bacon calls to you like Odysseus’ sirens, jump. Just keep it to a small or at least reasonable portion; and make up for it in other places by forgoing that which is less important to your crave monster.
Be sure to savor the joy of that special treat as well. The more you savor the indulgence, the more decadent it will feel and thus the more satisfying.
Be joyous about food in smart, healthy doses. Do so in the company of others who love your treats as much as you, and you’ll magnify the impact. Joy is for sharing after all!
Finally… For a healthy spin on many of your favorite cookie recipes, go to Cooking Light magazine’s 100 Best Cookies page online.
For Your Workplace:
Celebrating the holidays with food is mighty traditional. Since most people are going home or to parties to indulge, why not provide a healthy respite. A basket of apples, oranges, and bananas could go a long way to bring people back to their produce-worthy senses.
Also, for a fun tool to turn your employees onto regarding portion sizes, check out WebMD’s interactive “Portion Size Plate.” It provides great visuals on what a portion really means.
“It’s about re-engineering your food life so that it is enjoyable and mindful. Food is a great pleasure in our life — not something we should compromise. We simply need to shift our surroundings to work with our lifestyle, not against it.” – Brian Wansink, Mindless Eating.
Happy holidays on the PATH Ahead!